Cloud 9

Technical specifications

Length

When the Cylons attacked the Cyrannus star system, the Cloud 9, like all civilian ships, was ordered by the Colonial Fleet to freeze in its position while the military counteroffensive was underway. When the counterattack under Admiral Nagala failed and the Fleet was virtually wiped out along with the civilian leadership, newly sworn-in President Laura Roslin ordered these ships to converge near Caprica. Cloud 9 managed to reach this position, despite suffering damage from Cylon raiders which rendered much of the ship uninhabitable. It jumped away to Ragnar along with all other jump-capable ships, and later followed the Battlestar Galactica out of the star system entirely in search of the fabled planet, Earth.

In the weeks following the attack, Cloud 9 was slowly repaired. When these repairs were complete, it became a waystation for civilians travelling between ships in The Fleet, and provided a relaxing atmosphere. It also provided a meeting place for the Quorum of Twelve, with the President remaining based on Colonial One.[1] It was during the inaugural meeting that the Sagittaron delegate Tom Zarek made a bid for the Vice Presidency, but was beaten by the Caprican delegate, Dr. Gaius Baltar. Outside of politics, Cloud 9 continued its role as a hotel, where its more open design offered comparative ease to refugees living on cramped ships. It also set up an "open port" policy of allowing continuous loading and offloading of refugees, which also made the ship useful in smuggling activities. During the coup d'etat orchestrated by Commander William Adama, the fugitive President Roslin was able to hide within the fleet by using its ports. Cloud 9's crew rejected the authority of Commander Adama during the period of martial law, and jumped away to Kobol with other Roslin-loyal ships.

In the months following the rebellion's conclusion, Cloud 9 continued to serve as a hotbed for radical movements. Civilian Sesha Abinell led a militant group which inflammatory but accurate conspiracy theories about Galactica harbouring a Cylon agent, and took hostages in a restaurant in a failed attempt to secure her release for execution.[2] Similarly, a separate radical group, Demand Peace, used Cloud 9 as their political headquarters; after attempts to sabotage Galactica's ammunition, the group were forced to end their more extreme acts. They would later gain possession of one of Galactica's nuclear warheads in a secret deal with Dr. Baltar, and also accepted Gina Inviere, a Number Six, as a member, albeit unaware of her Cylon nature.[3] Along with these radical cases, Cloud 9, was also a place frequented by the black market and associated prostitution racket.[4]

Cloud 9 was destroyed over New Caprica in the aftermath of the Presidential election, when Inviere attempted suicide by triggering the nuclear warhead following the failure of her relationship with Dr. Baltar. The explosion destroyed at least three over ships, including a cargo ship, and became the first crisis of the newly-elected President Baltar's career. The radioactive signature of the detonation was detected by a Cylon patrol a lightyear away.[5]

Cloud 9 was a massive vessel of unusual design that contained a five-star restaurant, theater, casino, several bars, and numerous hotel rooms and luxury suites. Its most notable feature was a huge biodome which contained a pressurized natural habitat nearly a quarter-mile in diameter, which simulated an outdoor park. The dome was mounted to the starboard side of the ship's main hull by a "V" shaped pylon structure which supported a spoon-shaped bow that contained the hotel. Behind the hotel section was a separately attached crew module which also contained the ship's hangar bay, command bridge, engineering, and sub-light/FTL drive engines. Directly under the saucer dome were another set of drive engines.

Inside the dome, many varieties of trees and plants from the Twelve Colonies were grown on the grounds and were cared for by a dedicated gardening staff. The dome also contained an artificial lake used for swimming. At the center of the park was a large auditorium structure used for gatherings and festivals. This building was used by Laura Roslin as the meeting place for the new Quorum of Twelve after the Cylon attack on the Colonies. The dome used any natural sunlight that was available, in an attempt to replicate the atmospheric conditions of a planet's sky. However, Cloud 9 was still a spaceship, and didn't really live up to the quality of a real planet, as there were some flaws in the design—such as fake terrain used to disguise the machinery as well as the easily noticeable and massive support beams of the sky dome. Despite this, Cloud 9 was judged to be one of the nicer places to live in the colonial fleet.